Committee recommends $403,742 design contract for Clear Creek stormwater detention project

The Cheyenne Finance Committee on July 22 recommended approval of a professional services agreement with GLM Design Group LLC for engineering design of the Clear Creek Inline Stormwater Detention Facility, a project sited at and adjacent to David Romero Park.

A West Bay Engineering representative outlined the scope: the project will provide inline detention on Clear Creek and offline detention for Crow Creek. The representative said the Clear Creek inline detention will help mitigate frequent neighborhood flooding east of the park, while the Crow Creek offline detention would help reduce flooding at the Ames Underpass. The project also includes creation of additional wetland habitat in Romero Park, a channel design for Crow Creek in anticipation of a dredging project at Ames Underpass, and remapping of FEMA and city-county floodplain maps.

Cost and funding: the speaker said the contract total is $403,742.16, with $262,500 expected from a FEMA BRIC grant and $141,242.16 from the 2023–2026 optional 1% sales tax fund. The representative said a benefit-cost analysis will be performed to pursue FEMA construction funding.

The committee moved, seconded and voted to recommend the contract to the City Council for approval. Committee members asked technical questions about whether the design would change hundred-year floodplain extents and where geospatial data would come from; the West Bay representative said some data will come from the firm’s GIS topography and some from on-site surveying. No construction contract was before the committee; the item covered only the design agreement.

Discussion versus decision: committee approval was a recommendation to council to authorize the design contract. The actual construction phase would require future funding decisions, including FEMA grant awards and stormwater fee allocations for the local match.